Emory's Noah Okada named to first Quad Fellow cohort for work applying AI to neuroscience research - Emory News Center

Emory College elder Noah Okada is among 100 exceptional scholars selected for the inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows, a planetary web of thinkers moving crossed subject and exertion to lick real-world problems.

The first-of-its-kind scholarship, whose winners were announced Friday, is simply a associated inaugural of the governments of Australia, India, Japan and the United States. The grant includes postgraduate survey astatine starring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) universities successful the U.S., arsenic good arsenic entree to funding, cross-cultural exchanges and workshops connected themes specified arsenic the intersection of morals and innovation.

Okada, a treble large successful machine subject and neuroscience and behavioral biology from Osaka, Japan, volition correspond his location federation successful the program.

He plans to prosecute a PhD that allows him to grow his probe astatine the intersection of artificial quality (AI), virtual world and neuroscience, which won him a Goldwater Scholarship past year. His doctoral absorption volition beryllium connected pinpointing and modeling neural circuits that thrust intelligence and cognitive illness.

“Understanding the circuitry that drives emotional, fearfulness and anxiousness responses addresses a halfway quality problem,” Okada says. “I deliberation the planetary collaboration constituent of the Quad Fellowship is the cardinal unsocial origin that volition alteration america to construe these discoveries precise rapidly crossed the globe.”

From a encephalon wounded to encephalon research

A encephalon wounded from a wrestling mishap successful precocious schoolhouse pushed Okada to recognize what was happening successful each portion of his brain, including and beyond the injury. Once readying to go a bundle engineer, Okada arrived astatine Emory intent connected applying his programming cognition to a deeper knowing of neuroscience.

“Noah Okada’s communicative is remarkable,” says Emory President Gregory L. Fenves. “He turned the adversity of a frightening wounded into inspiration for his assistance successful neuroscience and AI. He is everything we hope for successful an Emory pupil — brilliant, talented and committed to utilizing his cognition to assistance others. I can’t hold to spot each that helium volition execute arsenic a Quad Fellow.”

He began his probe travel arsenic a archetypal twelvemonth student, processing virtual-reality (VR) landscapes and representation paradigms successful the laboratory of Daniel Drane, a neurology prof astatine the Emory School of Medicine. His enactment allows researchers to recognize the mechanics of forming memories, which has implications successful treating neurological disorders specified arsenic epilepsy and successful examining questions of neurophilosphy, specified arsenic the acquisition of déjà vu.

“Noah has the capableness to beryllium a superstar successful the tract for years to come,” Drane says.

“He has a unsocial operation of abilities, which 1 doesn’t often find successful a azygous person. His connection skills, helium entered Emory with an precocious cognition of machine programming, helium is rapidly learning each astir neuroscience, and helium has religion successful thing much than science, on with his idiosyncratic acquisition of recovering from encephalon injury,” Drane adds. “This drives Noah to propulsion beyond the task astatine manus with a passionateness to fig retired however things enactment and to truly assistance others.”

Okada has continued his research, and been a co-author connected 2 papers with a 3rd successful review, arsenic a student with the Emory Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD). On campus, helium has besides served arsenic a probe ambassador, worked arsenic a committee subordinate of the University Senate and been connected the enforcement committee of the undergraduate probe diary Grey Matters.

Okada besides conducted cognitive neuroscience probe beyond Emory. He interned past summertime astatine the neuroscientist Dean Mobb’s laboratory astatine the California Institute of Technology and continued remotely afterwards, gamifying his VR paradigms to survey fearfulness and anxiousness behaviors utilizing fMRI experimentation.

He besides developed akin VR systems successful Josef Parvizi’s laboratory astatine Stanford University past summer. There, Okada worked straight with patients who would acquisition simulations of regular surviving successful the artificial world portion intracranial electrodes monitored their encephalon activity.

The method enactment besides required quality attraction that ensured patients were comfy capable that researchers could exemplary their brains for imaginable country down the road.

“Noah’s creativity, self-awareness and probe skills alteration him to genuinely embody Emory’s ngo to create, preserve, thatch and use cognition successful the work of humanity,” says Megan Friddle, manager of the Emory College National Scholarships and Fellowships Program successful the Pathways Center, which supports each students passim the exertion process for large awards. “We are excited for his accidental to stock his probe crossed aggregate contexts and cultures arsenic a Quad Fellow.”

Mercedes Balcells, a main probe idiosyncratic astatine MIT, recruited Okada to her laboratory past twelvemonth to make a blood-brain obstruction exemplary to recognize however the encephalon reacts to inflammation.

When that internship ended successful 2021, Okada and Balcells continued to conscionable weekly. He aboriginal prepared the probe protocols for a soon-to-launch survey that examines information from wearable devices for imaginable connections to anxiousness and depression. Okada is simply a co-author connected a review paper astir the information postulation effort.

Balcells is anxious to proceed moving with Okada connected his postgraduate work.

“Noah is truthful humble that helium erstwhile apologized to maine astir his manus quality with pipetting due to the fact that of the broadside effects of his encephalon injury,” Balcells says. “That’s not slowing him down. He is everything you privation successful a researcher: a gentle property with the accomplishment and quality to radiance portion inactive being a squad player.”

Applying disruption to discovery

Okada has mostly recovered from his injury, though helium inactive suffers from migraines. He sees that idiosyncratic acquisition arsenic further cognition to his probe into the systems-level and molecular-level changes down the complexities of cognitive function.

“I retrieve trying to stock what I was experiencing, and nary tests would amusement my deficits. The cognitive and affectional tests seemed mean but I would person days wherever I was not astatine all,” Okada says.

“My extremity is to assistance amusement however everything is interconnected successful our encephalon truthful that we tin cognize however to assistance patients successful betterment from an wounded oregon successful request of immoderate attraction from surgery, medicine oregon behavioral therapy,” helium adds. “All of these pieces person to travel unneurotic if we privation to recognize what whitethorn beryllium happening erstwhile determination is simply a disruption successful our brains.”